Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande split with controversial manager Scooter Braun amid rumours Justin Bieber will follow suit

Manager and music mogul Scooter Braun’s name is often associated more with drama than it is with, you know, music. He was famously fired from Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Records at the age of 23, and while he struck it big by signing a young boy from Stratford Ontario by the name of Justin Bieber to his roster in 2009, controversy still followed when in 2019, he purchased Taylor Swift's former record label, Big Machine, and acquired the rights to her old music catalog — leading the songstress to lash out in a Tumblr post. 

Now, it would seem more of his clients are *clears throat* …. Scooting away from him. Ahem. (Bah dum CHING!)

It was announced this week that both Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande are getting off the scooter (ahem ahem!), joining a list of celebs who already dumped the music man this year, like J. Balvin. And, to many music watcher’s surprise, Braun’s golden boy The Biebs is rumoured to be making the machinations to jump ship as well (although The Biebs currently denies this).

Ariana first signed with Braun in 2013, and Lovato first signed with him in 2019. Demi (who uses she/they pronouns), is actually in the middle of re-recording their older tracks for an upcoming “Demi Lovato Revamped” album. Uhh, paging Taylor Swift! It appears Demi would like a word!

As for Ariana, she has not yet publicly commented on the split, however the "Thank U, Next" hitmaker temporarily parted ways with Braun in early 2016 because he couldn’t keep his yapper shut. Not about her music, mind you, but about her personal life.

"With Ariana, I could have said a lot of stuff, and in fact my team wanted me to, because they were so pi**ed," Braun said in 2018 (via Variety). "But I said, 'We're not gonna say a word, and this is gonna come back around.' They were like, 'Never take her back!' and I just said, 'Let's stay quiet and let our truth be our actions.' And when the sh**ty boyfriends leave, she starts to see the light on some stuff," Braun continued. Noting that they then had a "very honest conversation" about his employment, he claimed that getting fired had made him a "better manager." 

As for The Biebs, Page Six is reporting that his wife Hailey is stepping into the managerial role and that’s why Braun is being phased out, although this has not been verified from Bieber’s camp. 

Braun has been accused of some super shady practices most notably by Taylor Swift. When hearing the news that he had bought her back catalog, she accused him of "incessant, manipulative bullying,” on her Tumblr. "Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter," she added before adding of Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta, "Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words 'Scooter Braun' escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to." 

The "Anti-Hero" hitmaker continued, "He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn't want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever."

Taylor has since gone on to re-record her old albums, dubbing them “Taylor’s Version” to much success in order to cut off Braun’s financial gain from her music. 

Braun’s behaviour with other celebs has been the focus of much scrutiny. For a time he represented another Canadian powerhouse talent Carly Rae Jepson, especially in 2012  when her iconic single "Call Me Maybe" debuted at no. 1 and lingered on the Billboard charts for a whopping 50 weeks. But when she surprisingly wasn't able to maintain this level of success, Scooter Braun didn’t blame the business or the industry, he blamed *checks notes* Carly Rae’s body. Speaking with The New York Times, he said, “I think that I tried everything, and it falls on me. I didn't get it done for her … I didn't get the success I wanted. Maybe I didn't push hard enough when I thought I was. Maybe I didn't get her the right TV look at the right time. Maybe I picked the wrong single."

YouTuber Todrick Hall has even accused Braun of queerphobia. In a series of now-deleted tweets, he posted (via Pink News), "He is an evil person whose only concern is his wealth and feeding his disgusting ego.”

"I believe he is homophobic & I know from his own mouth that he is not a Swift fan." 

He continued,  "I would normally not say anything because I'm sure Scooter will threaten me like he has before to keep me quiet, but guess what Scooter, nothing you can do to me would be worst than the 6 years of my life I can't get back from when & I was ignored as your 'artist.'"

Of course, social media is having some fun with the news that no one wants to work with Braun anymore, and Twitter is having some mega laughs at his expense.

We can’t wait for Peppa Pig’s recorded album “Peppa’s Version.”